Morning Sentinel
She studies the bear facts
New Sharon wildlife rehabilitators give Second Chance to the orphaned
By BETTY JESPERSEN
Staff writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 10/29/2007

By BETTY JESPERSEN

Staff writer

A feisty, three-pound, four-month old bobcat kitten, orphaned when its mother was killed by a car in Hermon two weeks ago, is getting a second chance at life in a wildlife rehabilitation facility in New Sharon.

To keep it wild, it has minimal contact with humans and its diet is close to what it would eat with its mother. If all goes well, it will be released into the wild in May.

A game warden found the kitten and a state biologist brought it to Dawn and Mike Brown, who own Second Chance Wildlife off Route 27. The couple accepts mammals such bobcats, but their focus is the black bear.

"This is a labor of love," Dawn Brown said. "I love what I do. I grew up in the woods and have been fascinated by black bears since I was 5. My focus is on behavioral research and this is a dream come true,"

Wildlife rehabilitation is the process of providing aid to injured, orphaned, displaced or distressed wild animals so they may survive when released to their native habitat.

Rehabilitators are required to have a state license from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and to show they have the knowledge, skills and facilities to care for wild animals.

Brown said she tries to distance herself emotionally from the animals she cares for, knowing they are with her only a short time. She uses that time to observe them and to document what she sees so she can learn how best to prepare future guests for survival.

"When they are released, you are still constantly worrying about what they are doing and what is working and what is not," she said, "I am always learning. In this business, you can never say you know everything."

Under the guidance of the state's bear biologists, the Browns have rehabilitated eight bears in the past nine years, including taking on two neonatal cubs last year that on arrival each weighed less than two ounces. Only one survived and it was released last winter wearing a radio collar.

"There was a tremendous amount of work by Dawn and Mike and I am very happy that the bear is doing well. We checked it in March and again a month ago and it was staying inside of two miles from where we released it," said state bear biologist Randy Cross.

He said the bear, a female, will need about three years before she is ready to breed.

"Dawn knows that what is best for the animals is life in the wild. It would be easy to keep it in a pen, but trying to get it ready to go in the wild and stay alive, that's the trick," Cross said. "Their facility is uncommonly good and they are devoted to do the best job they can."

Second Chance's three-acre facility has trees for animals to climb, puddles to splash in, and brush to forage in. With a grant from the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, the Browns built an enclosed sanctuary equipped with a video-monitoring system. Cross said it is the largest bear rehabilitation facility on the east coast.

To a biologist, an individual animal does not have a significant impact on its population, Cross acknowledges.

"But you feel that if there was a human-caused problem, like a mother killed by a vehicle or as a result of a timber harvest, you feel an obligation to fix the wrong so the cub has a chance to make it ," he said.

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has been studying bears since 1969 and tracks about 50 radio-collared animals annually, recording details on their survival, reproduction, behavior and condition. According to the agency, the management program is one of the most extensive, comprehensive and longest-standing bear studies in North America.

There are about 90 wildlife rehabilitation facilities in Maine, with the majority of them independent home-based facilities. Only three, including Second Chance, specialize in bears, says the department's Web site.

The orphaned bobcat is living in a small enclosure and Dawn Brown said whenever she goes out to feed is always hiding.

"You can't get near it. It will growl and want to rip you open. That is exactly what I want. Its natural skills are still in place," she said.

The Browns bought their property in New Sharon and moved there from New Hampshire about 19 years ago. They work together at their home-based hardwood and laminate flooring business, Brown's Flooring Inc. When work slows in the winter and early spring, that is when Brown does her research.

"I noticed that by exposing the cubs to the wild elements at a very young age that they have unbelievable capabilities," she wrote in her Web site journal. "The cubs did not need me to teach them how to swim, climb or forage. Were they scared when they were 50-60 feet up in a tree? Yes! But they got down on their own without any help and soon had no fear whatsoever."

Wildlife rehabilitation requires funding for everything from food, supplies, caging and fencing to resource materials and veterinary bills. Donations tend to be unpredictable and a majority of the funds for home-based rehabilitators come from the rehabilitators themselves, according to the state's Web site.

The Browns are in the process of applying for nonprofit tax exempt status, which takes time and money to achieve and maintain. For information, visit www.beartodream.org or call (207) 778-2902. The address is Second Chance Wildlife Inc., 90 Mountain Road, New Sharon, ME., 04955.

"I have a passion for trying to figure out what bears do in the wild. I like to put two and two together," Brown said. "With the neonate bear cubs, after I got to know them, I couldn't wait to see them go out into the wild."

Betty Jespersen -- 778-6991

bjespersen@centralmaine.com

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